All registered voters may participate in the non-partisan primary.
Primary election day is August 3, 2010. 
Advance voting begins July 14. 
Voter information is available at the election office web site.

Shouldn't elections be about selecting the person with the best ideas and ability to help our community become better?  My 11-years of elected county and city public service demonstrate that I will take the bold steps necessary to give us better value and meet our challenges by working across boundaries and stimulating innovation to get the best solutions for our community.  Times are different; we cannot rely on the solutions of the past 30 years to continue the success and prosperity of our community over the next 30 years.

County government is our largest local government, budgeting nearly $800 million annually for jails, libraries, parks, social services and sewer treatment.  It is also the most hidden layer of government with less than 8% of us able to name the Commission Chairman.  We need to make our largest local government work better for us through cooperation and coordination.

The following are the top three actions I will focus on to get better value for our tax dollars.

First, County Commissioner salaries will be reduced by over 50%. All seven commissioners receive the same salary which will be brought in line with their part time status and that of some Johnson County mayors. The Chairman's salary will be cut by $61,945 or 71% and District Commissioners salaries will be cut by $24,841 or almost 50%. Over $210,000 will be cut from County Commissioner salaries.

Second, County Commission meetings will be scheduled during the evening. Although most of us will not attend commission meetings having meetings in the evening will certainly enable you to keep better eye on what your commission is doing.  This change will also free up highly paid professional staff during business hours.

Third, County government will work with our 20 city governments to wring out inefficiency and duplication.  We are already spending enough! Local governments spend nearly $2 billion a year providing services in our community.  I will convene a meeting of elected and professional representatives from City and County government to review every service we are providing to identify areas of overlap and duplication so that they can be eliminated or cooperation on service delivery can be developed. For accountability, the results of the review will be reported to the public.

As a City Councilmember and County Commissioner I have gained the insight, developed the vision, demonstrated the integrity and have a record of achievement building coalitions to make local government deliver better value taxpayers.

I have served on the County Commission with each of the candidates seeking your vote for County Chairman.  Our records as commissioners can be used to validate each of our claims.  

I need your support today to change our County Commission so our community can be better!